Category: American

In a different era, this would look scary.

New coach.

One returning starter.

A roster that barely resembles last year’s team.

Ten years ago, you probably would have looked at Memphis and said, “This is going to take a while.”

But this is not that era anymore.

In the NIL and transfer portal world, a roster can change quickly. A team can lose almost everything and still patch together enough talent to stay competitive. That is what makes Memphis so interesting going into 2026.

The Tigers went 8-5 last season and 4-4 in the American, but the season faded after it briefly looked like Memphis might have a real path toward the College Football Playoff.

Now Charles Huff takes over, and the job is very clear.

Keep Memphis from slipping while rebuilding almost the entire roster.

HEAD COACH:

• Charles Huff, entering year one at Memphis
• Huff is 39-25 as a head coach.
• Memphis went 8-5 last season.
• The Tigers finished 4-4 in the American.
• Memphis has not had a losing season since 2013.

I like the hire.

Huff has won. He went 32-20 at Marshall, then led Southern Miss to a 7-5 regular season in his one year there after the Golden Eagles had gone 1-11 the year before. Memphis hired him in December after Ryan Silverfield left for Arkansas.

That matters.

Memphis is not a rebuild in the traditional sense. This is one of the better Group of Five programs in the country. The Tigers expect to win. They expect to be in the American race. They expect to be part of the playoff conversation when everything breaks right.

That is a different challenge than taking over a broken program.

Huff has to win quickly.

And he has to do it with a team that looks completely different.

QUARTERBACK:

This is the first big question.

The quarterback battle looks like Marcus Stokes against Air Noland, and the two could not have taken more different paths to get here.

Stokes comes from West Florida, where he was the Gulf South Conference Offensive Player of the Year. He threw for 3,297 yards, 30 touchdowns, averaged 275 passing yards per game, and also ran for 367 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was also a former four-star prospect out of Nease High School in Florida.

That is real production.

Yes, it came at the Division II level. That matters. The speed, size and week-to-week pressure will be different in the American.

But Stokes has played a lot of football. He has carried an offense. He has thrown touchdown passes. He has run for touchdowns. He has been the guy.

That counts for something.

Then there is Noland.

Noland was a big-time recruit who started at Ohio State, then went to South Carolina, and now lands at Memphis.

The talent is obvious.

The experience is not.

Noland barely played last season, so this is more projection than proof. He may have the higher recruiting profile, but Stokes has the better college production.

That is what makes the battle interesting.

Stokes feels like the more proven football player right now.

Noland feels like the upside swing.

Either way, Memphis needs somebody to take the job and calm everything down. With this much roster turnover, the Tigers cannot afford a quarterback battle that drags deep into the season.

THE REST OF THE OFFENSE

The offense basically starts over.

Parker Mitchell is the only returning starter, and he is an important one. He is a redshirt senior offensive lineman, and before Memphis he started 23 games and appeared in 27 at Richmond.

That is a nice piece.

But one returning starter is still one returning starter.

The running back room is almost completely new. Jaylin Carter comes in from Southern Miss, Manny Covey comes in from Cincinnati, and Dallan Hayden comes back home to Memphis after stops at Ohio State and Colorado.

Hayden is probably the most recognizable name.

He has played in big-time environments. He has been at Ohio State. He has been at Colorado. He has real college experience.

But none of these backs is coming off a monster 1,000-yard season.

So this may be a committee.

That is not necessarily bad. Memphis can rotate guys, figure out who fits, and let the offense grow. But somebody eventually has to become dependable.

The same is true at receiver.

There are pieces, but it is a new group. Terrell Timmons Jr. comes in after time at NC State and Colorado, and Tychaun Chapman follows the Marshall/Southern Miss pipeline to Memphis. The Tigers also have Hunter Tipton at tight end after coming from Middle Tennessee.

This is the portal era in one position group.

A lot of names.

A lot of talent.

A lot of unknowns.

If the quarterback hits, the offense can be fine. But with only one returning starter, it may take a few weeks before Memphis really knows what it has.

DEFENSE

The defense has the same story.

New names everywhere.

The good news is Huff brought some players with him who know what he wants.

Mike Montgomery comes in at linebacker after stops at Portland State and Southern Miss. Ian Foster comes in at safety after time at Marshall and Southern Miss. J’Mond Tapp transfers in on the defensive line after time at Arizona State and Southern Miss.

Montgomery is the key name.

He had 105 tackles last season, and Memphis needs that kind of proven production badly. There is going to be a lot of inexperience around him, so having an older linebacker who has played in Huff’s system should matter.

The defense does not need to become elite right away.

But it has to be good enough to keep Memphis from getting dragged into shootouts while the offense figures itself out.

That is the challenge with this team.

Memphis has talent.

But does it have chemistry?

SCHEDULE

We are going to find out about Memphis fast.

The Tigers open at UNLV on Aug. 29, host Arkansas State on Sept. 5, then go to Boise State on Sept. 12. After that, they host UT Martin before opening American play at Charlotte.

That is not an easy start.

Two of the first three games are long road trips against teams that should be among the better teams in their leagues. UNLV could be a Mountain West contender. Boise State is always a major test, and going to Boise is never comfortable.

Those won’t decide the American race, but they will shape how people view Memphis nationally.

If the Tigers somehow split those road games or win both, the conversation changes fast. If they lose both, any playoff talk probably disappears early.

The conference schedule has some real spots too.

Memphis hosts UAB, goes to Tulane, then gets back-to-back home games against East Carolina and Army. That ECU-Army stretch is the only true back-to-back home stand on the schedule. Then the Tigers go back-to-back on the road at South Florida and Navy before closing with Temple at home.

That November road stretch is tough.

At USF.

At Navy.

Those are not games you want to play if your team is still trying to find itself.

The schedule is not impossible, but it does not give Memphis a soft landing either.

OUTLOOK

Memphis is hard to project.

The program has been too good for too long to just assume a collapse. The Tigers have not had a losing season since 2013, and Huff has proven he can win.

But this is a lot of change.

New head coach. New quarterback. New running backs. New receivers. New defensive leaders. One returning starter.

The best-case scenario is that Marcus Stokes is ready for the FBS jump, or Air Noland finally becomes the player people thought he could be. The portal backs give Memphis enough balance. Montgomery leads the defense. Huff brings the same energy that worked at Marshall and Southern Miss. If that happens, Memphis can still be a factor in the American.

The worst-case scenario is that the quarterback battle never settles, the offensive chemistry takes too long, the defense lacks experience, and those early road games at UNLV and Boise State expose the growing pains.

Huff is a good coach, and Memphis is a strong program. That combination gives this thing a chance to work faster than it would have in the old days.

But this season feels more like a reset than a playoff push.

The Tigers may still win plenty of games.

The question is whether they can figure it out fast enough to stay in the American race before the schedule makes them pay.

In the pass-happy world of modern college football, it feels like there is no such thing as throwing the ball too much.

But Florida Atlantic may have tested that theory last year.

The Owls threw it on almost 64% of their plays, the second-highest rate in the country. They led the nation in passing yards per game and pass attempts per game. They put up a ton of yardage.

And still, they went 4-8.

That tells you the whole story.

FAU could throw the ball. FAU could move the ball. But the Owls could not run it, could not protect the ball well enough, and could not force enough turnovers on defense.

Now Zach Kittley is in year two, Caden Veltkamp is back at quarterback, and the question is pretty simple.

Can the Owls become more balanced?

HEAD COACH:

• Zach Kittley, entering year two at Florida Atlantic
• FAU went 4-8 last season.
• The Owls finished 3-5 in the American.
• FAU has not had a winning season since 2019.
• The Owls averaged 27.1 points per game last year.

Kittley was hired because of offense.

That is his background. That is his reputation. That is why FAU brought him in after his work as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Texas Tech. FAU officially named him head coach in December 2024, and the school described him then as one of the bright offensive minds in the sport.

You could see that identity immediately.

FAU averaged 435.7 yards per game, which is a huge number. The Owls were explosive through the air and difficult to keep from moving the ball between the 20s.

But they were not clean.

FAU finished near the bottom of the country in turnover margin, averaged about seven penalties per game, and forced only eight turnovers all season.

That is how you waste a productive offense.

The Owls do not need to completely change who they are. They are going to throw the football. That is Kittley’s world.

But they do need to play a cleaner version of it.

QUARTERBACK:

This is where the optimism starts.

Caden Veltkamp is back, and that gives FAU a chance to be one of the most dangerous passing teams in the American.

Veltkamp completed 345 of 515 passes last season for 3,641 yards, 24 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.

That is a lot of production.

It is also a lot of risk.

Veltkamp attempted 40 or more passes seven times last season. When a quarterback is throwing it that much, interceptions are going to happen. But 17 picks is still too many if FAU wants to go from fun offense to winning offense.

The Maryland game is the warning sign.

FAU only played one Power Four opponent last year, and Veltkamp threw one touchdown and four interceptions in that game.

That cannot be the version FAU gets in its biggest moments.

But the upside is obvious.

Veltkamp completed 67% of his passes and threw 64 deep balls last season. He is not just dumping it off. He will push the ball down the field. He will give his receivers chances. He will make this offense hard to defend.

If he cuts the interceptions down, FAU can score on almost anybody in the league.

THE REST OF THE OFFENSE

The passing game has a star.

Easton Messer is back after catching 104 passes for 1,052 yards and six touchdowns. FAU’s roster lists Messer as a redshirt senior receiver, and he should be one of the top returning pass-catchers in the American.

That is a big deal.

Messer was third nationally in receptions last season, and he did that without the benefit of a playoff run or extra games. He is going to get the football. Everybody knows it. The question is whether teams can stop it.

Dominique Henry is back too after catching 46 passes for 565 yards and four touchdowns. FAU lists Henry as a redshirt senior receiver from BYU, and he gives Veltkamp another proven target.

The Owls also have Kelby Valsin, Brooks Johnson, RJ Garcia II and others in the mix.

So the receiving group is not the concern.

The run game is.

FAU averaged only 3.3 yards per rush last season. The Owls ran the ball on just 36% of their plays. Some of that is game script. If you are behind, you throw. If your defense is struggling, you throw. If your run game is not working, you throw.

But at some point, you have to be able to run the ball.

Kaden Shields-Dutton should be part of that answer. The junior running back ran for 460 yards and six touchdowns last season.

The offensive line has some size and experience too, with Vincent Fiacable, Ja’Kavion Nonar, Aqil Meredith-Smith, Braden Cunningham and Benjamin Galloway among the projected names up front.

That group does not need to turn FAU into Army.

But it has to make defenses respect the run.

If the Owls can even become average on the ground, the passing game gets scarier.

DEFENSE

The defense has to help more.

FAU gave up 435.7 yards per game last season, and opponents completed too many easy throws. Teams also did not have to chase the game very often because FAU kept giving possessions away.

The most alarming number is the turnover total.

The Owls forced only eight turnovers all year.

That is brutal.

If your offense is throwing the ball 500-plus times and taking chances, the defense has to steal some possessions back. FAU did not do that enough.

There are pieces to work with.

Leon Hart Jr. is back at linebacker after leading the team in tackles.

Senior CJ Doggette Jr. is back on the defensive line after leading the team in sacks.

The projected defensive group also includes Deshaun Batiste, Gavench Marcelin, Damarius McGhee, Chris Tooley III, Jay Crable, Blake Burris, Joseph Sipp Jr. and Damon Allen.

FAU brings back a decent amount on this side of the ball, and that matters.

But the defense has to become more disruptive.

More pressure.

More takeaways.

More third-down stops.

The offense is probably going to score. The defense just has to keep games from turning into track meets every week.

SCHEDULE

The schedule is interesting right away.

FAU opens at Florida on Sept. 5, then gets Navy and FIU at home. After that, the Owls go to ULM, host Texas Southern, then go to Army after a bye.

That first game is a great measuring stick.

Florida will be breaking in a new head coach with Jon Sumrall, and FAU brings in a quarterback who threw for more than 3,600 yards last season. That is not the easiest opening opponent for the Gators’ new staff to prepare for.

After Florida, three of the next four are at home.

That matters.

Navy, FIU and Texas Southern all come to Boca Raton. The road trip to ULM is manageable. If FAU is improved, that early stretch gives the Owls a chance to build some confidence.

The American schedule gets tougher after that.

FAU plays at Army, hosts Rice, goes to North Texas, hosts UTSA, goes to Tulsa, hosts South Florida, and finishes at East Carolina.

The good news is the Owls do not have to go to UTSA, where the Roadrunners have been so tough in recent years.

The bad news is that Army, North Texas, Tulsa and East Carolina are all road games.

That is not easy.

But it is manageable enough if the offense cleans up the turnovers.

OUTLOOK

I think FAU is interesting.

The Owls have a quarterback. They have a star receiver. They have a head coach who knows how to build a passing game. They bring back enough production to believe the offense can take another step in year two.

But they have to fix the obvious stuff.

Caden Veltkamp cannot throw 17 interceptions again.

The run game cannot average 3.3 yards per carry again.

The defense cannot force only eight turnovers again.

The penalties have to come down.

That is a lot, but it is not impossible.

The best-case scenario is that Veltkamp becomes one of the best quarterbacks in the American, Messer pushes for another 100-catch season, the run game becomes at least respectable, and the defense creates enough turnovers to give the offense extra possessions.

If that happens, FAU can absolutely get into the bowl conversation.

There is enough here to believe the Owls can be better than 4-8.

But the next step is not about throwing for more yards.

It is about playing cleaner football, finding balance, and finally turning Kittley’s offense into wins.

There is no reason to dress it up.

Charlotte was one of the worst teams in college football last season.

The 49ers went 1-11, finished 0-8 in the American, and their only win came against Monmouth, an FCS opponent. The offense was bad. The run game was almost nonexistent. The defense was not good enough to keep games close.

So now Tim Albin has a real rebuild on his hands.

And that is the interesting part.

Albin has done this before. Before coming to Charlotte, he went 33-19 at Ohio, won a MAC championship, and helped put together three straight 10-win seasons. He was a two-time MAC Coach of the Year and the head coach of Ohio’s 2024 MAC title team.

Now he has to prove he can bring that same kind of stability to a Charlotte program that badly needs it.

HEAD COACH:

• Tim Albin, entering year two at Charlotte
• Charlotte went 1-11 last season.
• The 49ers went 0-8 in the American.
• Albin previously went 33-19 at Ohio.

This is going to take time.

Charlotte is not one player away. It is not one coordinator change away. This is a roster that needs improvement almost everywhere.

The 49ers averaged only 260.6 yards per game last season, which ranked near the very bottom of the country. They also averaged just 2.5 yards per carry, which was basically dead last nationally.

That is the number that tells the story.

You cannot win consistently when you cannot run the football at all.

Charlotte threw the ball on 54% of its plays last season, and that was probably not because the 49ers wanted to be some high-flying passing team. It was because they had to throw. They were behind. They could not run it. They could not control games.

That has to change first.

QUARTERBACK:

The quarterback room is crowded, but not settled.

Grayson Loftis is back after throwing for 1,415 yards, eight touchdowns and eight interceptions last season. Conner Harrell is also in the mix after throwing for 747 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions, though he dealt with a brutal knee injury situation involving his ACL, meniscus and MCL.

Then there is Cole Gonzales, who comes in after stops at Western Carolina and Pittsburgh. Charlotte’s official roster lists the quarterback group with Grayson Loftis, Conner Harrell, Cole Gonzales, Jaylen White and Luke McNulty.

Gonzales is interesting because he put up huge numbers at Western Carolina before his brief stop at Pitt. He threw for more than 6,000 yards, 51 touchdowns and 22 interceptions in three years there.

So there are options.

But somebody has to separate.

Charlotte cannot go into the season still guessing at quarterback. Whether it is Loftis, Harrell, Gonzales or someone else, the 49ers need one guy to take control of the offense.

And whoever wins the job needs help.

A lot of help.

THE REST OF THE OFFENSE

The run game has to be the first fix.

Charlotte brings back Jariel Cobb and Henry Rutledge, and the 49ers added more bodies to the room. Khamani Alexander comes in from Appalachian State, D’Mariun Perteet comes in at running back, and Chance Williams is also on the roster.  

That does not automatically mean the run game is fixed.

But at least there are options.

The offensive line also got a major transfer addition with J’Ven Williams from Penn State. Charlotte lists Williams as a 6-foot-5, 315-pound redshirt junior offensive lineman from Penn State.

He joins a group that includes Kristos Fernandez, who is back up front.

That offensive line is probably the most important unit on the team.

If Charlotte cannot block better, it will not matter who plays quarterback. It will not matter how many running backs are in the room. It will not matter what Albin wants the offense to look like.

The 49ers have to get more physical.

They have to create easier downs.

They have to stop living in obvious passing situations.

That is step one of the rebuild.

DEFENSE

The defense was not good enough either.

Opponents ran the ball on 56% of their plays against Charlotte last season, and they completed 67% of their passes. That is a bad combination.

When teams can run on you and complete passes that easily, they get to play the game however they want.

That is exactly what happened to Charlotte too often.

The key returning names are Jamarrion Solomon, Jaylon Johnson, Kadin Schmitz and CJ Clinkscales Jr. Solomon and Johnson are on the defensive line, Schmitz is at linebacker and Clinkscales is in the secondary.

That group gives the defense a few pieces to build around.

But this unit needs a much bigger jump than just “a few guys are back.”

Charlotte gave up too many easy drives. It could not consistently stop the run. It could not make opponents uncomfortable enough in the passing game.

The 49ers do not need to become elite overnight.

But they have to become competitive.

SCHEDULE

The schedule lets us know pretty quickly whether Charlotte is better.

The 49ers open with The Citadel, and that is a game they need to win.

Then things get real fast.

Charlotte goes to Ole Miss on Sept. 12, then goes to Appalachian State on Sept. 19. After that, the 49ers host Louisiana and Memphis. Charlotte’s 2026 schedule has that opening stretch, followed by road games at North Texas and Temple, then Tulane, UAB, East Carolina, Tulsa and Navy to close the year.

That is not easy for a team coming off a 1-11 season.

The Ole Miss game is probably too much. The App State game is a measuring stick. The American schedule gives Charlotte some chances, but not many freebies.

The biggest thing is the start.

If Charlotte beats The Citadel and looks more competent against Ole Miss and App State, maybe there is something to build on.

If the offense still cannot move the ball, it could be another long season.

OUTLOOK

I think Charlotte will be better.

It would be hard not to be.

But the question is how much better.

The 49ers need a quarterback to win the job. They need the offensive line to be dramatically better. They need one of the running backs to become a real answer. They need the defense to stop letting opponents control the game.

That is a lot.

The best-case scenario is that Gonzales, Loftis or Harrell settles the quarterback job, J’Ven Williams helps change the offensive line, the run game becomes at least respectable, and the defense improves enough to keep Charlotte in games.

If that happens, maybe Charlotte can find a path toward a few wins and start building real momentum under Albin.

The worst-case scenario is that the offense still cannot run the ball, the quarterback battle never gets settled, and the defense remains one of the weaker units in the American.

Full disclosure: I use AI tools to format my research into an article encompassing all of the information.